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Anh Huynh
ENG 1302-05
Dr. McMurray
05/05/2015
“Shiloh:” Summary, Response and Analysis
Shiloh is the fictional story composed by Bobbie Ann Mason. Published in 1982, this
story and some others written by Mason become an important new voice in American fiction.
Shiloh is the story about the marriage problems of two main characters: Leroy Moffitt
and his wife, Norma Jean. Before Leroy was in an accident, their family life was really happy.
As Mason described, Leroy usually traveled on the road for long days. When he came back,
Norma always cooked his favorite food to welcome him home (Mason 335). Since his leg was
injured, he had to stay home for a long time. During that time, the family needed to depend on
his wife. However, he kept staying at home after his leg healed. No matter how his wife urged
him to find a job, all he wanted to do was build a log cabin (Mason 334). Before that, their
marriage had been through a shock when their baby passed away (Mason 333). Therefore, their
relationship was more serious at this time and they felt “awkward around each other” (Mason
332).
To help their marriage, Norma's mom asked them to travel to Shiloh, where she spent her
honeymoon. However, Norma decided not to go there no matter how her mom convinced her.
“When are you going to shut up about Shiloh?” she asked her mama (Mason 340). Yet, after her
mom caught her smoking, she changed her mind and decided to go for a picnic with her husband
in Shiloh. Despite that, they did not feel happy at all (Mason 341). There she told him she
wanted to leave him. Although Leroy asked her to start over one more time, she could not agree
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and walked away (Mason 342). After that, Leroy realized his fault, and followed Norma, but it
was too late (Mason 343).
First, when I read the story, I kept thinking that Leroy and Norma was a good couple. As
Mason described in the story, they were having a good relationship. They were working out
together, “watching TV on the bed and playing cards,” and cooking (Mason 330, 335). On the
other hand, the story surprised me later when their relationship totally changed after Leroy was
injured. It is hard to guess what will happen later in the story. Everyone is changing. Norma
improved herself, she started taking composition class, cooking exotic food, and composing
music (Mason 339). Additionally, Leroy changed, he became worse. Before, he was brave. He
drove the truck and traveled day by day on the road, but now he remained home, even when his
leg was healed (Mason 331). If I were him, I would feel very embarrassed with my family
because I became their burden. While staying at home, he wanted to build a log cabin for his
wife (Mason 334). He made me unintelligible as to why he wanted to spend his time building a
log cabin, which no one needed. However, he did not give up this useless idea and fought for it.
Through this story, I also learned that, if in a family, there is a lack of communication and
understanding, soon it will be broken. Leroy and Norma in the story did not understand what
their love wanted. They kept doing what they liked. Also, loss of love creates distance between
them and makes them hesitate to communicate with each other. According to Julzanne, “to
maintain a healthy and strong relationship you must have good communication” (Julzanne).
Communication is the key to unlock every struggle in marriage. However, Leroy and Norma
were always busy and dismissed their problem (Julzanne). Because of these reasons, Leroy and
Norma make their marriage come to the end.
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Norma, after her husband’s injury, became the main person making money for the family.
She worked hard every day, came back home and went straight to sleep without turning off the
light. Every day, she ate cereal and left the unclean bowl in the kitchen (Mason 335, 336). These
images show how busy her life was since Leroy was injured. When a woman went out to work,
while her husband stayed at home doing nothing but sewing and building useless things, how do
you think this marriage can last? Therefore, Norma felt uncomfortable with this marriage. When
a husband is unable to take care of his wife, she will probably search for a better life, like Norma.
She improved herself for the purpose of leaving Leroy and moving on. In my opinion, Norma is
wrong in the way she is doing things. Instead of changing herself because of not feeling
comfortable, she needs to encourage her husband and help him out. On the other hand, I also
think that Norma is right because she also has her limit. When her husband cannot understand
her and share her burden, she should find a way to get out of the relationship.
After reading this story, I wonder why Mason wanted to mention the electric organ and
the music Norma played. Also, why did Leroy want to build the log cabin instead of something
else? What do these details symbolize or reflect about these two characters?
According to the website MegaEssay.com, the log cabin, which Leroy wanted to build all
the time, symbolizes for “the state of Norma’s and Leroy’s relationship” (MegaEssay.com 1).
When they married, he used to promise his wife that he would build a house for her. However,
he always traveled on the road, and only stayed home for a short time, so he did not have time to
build a house for her. When he stayed home, he wanted to fulfill his promise. He hoped to
ameliorate the relationship between him and his wife. At the beginning, the log cabin was not
mentioned in the story because their relationship was still happy. Until their life changes, Mason
begins to talk about it. Although his wife and many others do not agree with him building the
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log cabin, he does not want to stop. Just like that, he does not want to give up his marriage. He
persists in building the log cabin as he fights to keep his relationship. However, when he realizes
that his wife wants to leave him, he starts changing himself to suit her, but it is too late. At
Shiloh, he finally recognized that, his marriage was hollow like the log cabin in Shiloh with
bullet holes after the Civil War (Mason 340).
Besides the log cabin, Mason also reflects their marriage in music that Norma Jean
played. At Christmas, Leroy gave Norma an electric organ keyboard. Then, she played “Can’t
Take My Eyes Off You,” and “I’ll Be Back” for Leroy to enjoy. According to the website
SparkNotes, these romantic songs remind them about youth. After fifteen years on the road,
Leroy was back and stayed with his love (SparkNotes). “I’ll Be Back” shows Norma’s hope and
respect on Leroy’s return. Also, when they got together, they were still young and pretty.
Therefore, Norma means to play “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” to mirror Leroy’s beauty at the
time (SparkNotes). Once, she played “Sunshine Superman” to make fun of her husband when he
laid down and smoked. For her, Leroy was like a superman when he was smoking. Also, he was
as brave as a superman. As time passed, the relationship went down. Norma did not play these
kinds of songs anymore. The last song she played was “Who’ll Be the Next in Line?” (Mason
337). This song implied that she was tired of him and wanted to break her loyalty (SparkNotes).
Unlike her husband, she wanted to move on. Later, she did not play the organ anymore, instead
she changed to composing. She proved that she was better than Leroy just as composing was
higher than playing. Overall, the titles of the songs are telling about the stages of their marriage.
They parallel the changing of their relationship and foreshadow the events that happen later in
the story.
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As I read to the end, I’m once more surprised about the story. The author let her story
have an open-ending. After telling him that she wanted to leave him, she walked toward the
Tennessee River. Then, she “turns to Leroy and waves” (Mason 343). I think it is smart to leave
the story this way because we do not want to see any worse ending, and we can expect the better
one. According to the email that Mason answered to Kentucky High School Students, she said,
she did not want to draw the conclusion for audiences. She wanted her audience to try to figure it
out. Through the different feelings of people about the story, they would give a better conclusion.
She explained, “That is the give-and-take of life” (bookclub@ket).
Throughout the story, I personally learn many lessons about love and care. By using
symbolism, Mason creates the attraction of the story. It also helps her foreshadow the events in
the story by not telling directly to the readers. Additionally, a novel can affect a person’s life for
good and for bad. Therefore, she is wise to choose the open-ending conclusion to let audiences
conclude it for her.
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Works Cited
Julzanne. ““Shiloh and Other Short Stories” by Bobbie Ann Mason: Failed Relationship.”
StudyMode. StudyMode.com, 1 Feb. 2007. Web. 05 May 2015.
Mason, Bobbie Ann. “Shiloh.”Shiloh and Other Stories. New York: Harper and Row, 1982.
Print.
McElwain, Connie. “KET’s SignatureLIVE!: Bobbie Ann Mason Messages.” KET’s
SignatureLIVE!: Bobbie Ann Mason Messages. Kentucky Educational Television, 16
Nov. 1995.Web. 05 May 2015.
“The Log Cabin in Shiloh.”MegaEssay.com. MegaEssay.com,N.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2015.
"Shiloh." SparkNotes. SparkNotes LLC, N.d. Web. 4 May 2015.